David Cameron is likely to bow to pressure and allow ministers to condemn the
Coalition's failure to promise an EU referendum in law, Peter Bone, a Tory
MP has said.

Mr Bone is leading a group of eurosceptic Tories, who have called a vote in parliament to criticise the Queen's Speech for leaving out plans for a referendum on Britain's membership of the European Union.

The Prime Minister will be in America with US President Barack Obama for the vote and has ordered his ministers to abstain if they are tempted to side with the rebels

However, Mr Bone, one of the architects of the amendment, today said Mr Cameron is coming under pressure to let his ministers vote how they like.

"It's going to be a little strange if there's an amendment in favour of Conservative Party policy and ministers are not allowed to vote for it," he said. "That does seem rather far-fetched. If the only reason they're not allowed to vote for is not to offend the Liberal Democrats then that's not a good enough reason.

"I'm hopeful that by Wednesday, ministers will be voting for it. I'm absolutely sure that if the Prime Minister was here and free to vote, he would vote for it, as it's his policy.

"They won't decide the whipping until later and sometimes they change it on the day. I'd guess ministers are saying to the leadership, this is our party policy and we want to vote for it.

"What I'm hoping is there will be a massive Conservative vote for this as I can't see many Conservative colleagues voting against it."

Mr Cameron has already promised a vote on membership of the Europe Union before 2017, after he has attempted to re-negotiate Britain's relationship with Brussels.

However, many Conservatives fear voters do not trust the Government to keep this pledge. The success of the eurosceptic UK Independence Party in the local elections and recent by-elections has intensified their worries.

As a result, a large number of Conservatives are likely to vote in favour of the amendment and against the Coalition's programme of laws set out in the Queen's Speech.

Sources said Mr Cameron in principle supports the idea of laws promising a referendum but his hands are tied because the Liberal Democrats, his Coalition partners, would never support this.

The amendment has not yet been approved by John Bercow, the Speaker of the House of Commons, but it is likely to be accepted and taken to a vote on Wednesday.

This morning, Gavin Barwell, a Croydon MP and ministerial aide to Michael Gove, said he supported the vote because people do not trust politicians in general to keep their promises.

"This isn't an issue about Conservative MPs trusting David Cameron," he said. "It is about using the legislative process to convince the electorate that the clear commitment he gave in his speech in January is going to happen.

"What we need to do is convince the sceptical electorate that we actually mean it. I think a very effective way of doing that would be bringing forward legislation, so we can go back to our constituents and say look, if you vote Conservative at the next election, here is a guarantee that we will get a referendum."

Michael Gove, the Conservative Education Secretary, and Philip Hammond, the Defence Secretary, made it clear over the weekend they would vote to leave the European Union if there were a vote tomorrow.

Other senior Conservatives are anxious about the fact that the party appears to be mired in controversy over Europe once again.

Sir Malcolm Rifkind, a former Cabinet minister under Margaret Thatcher, criticised backbenchers for giving MPs the opportunity to criticise the Coalition in public.

Speaking to BBC Radio Four's Today programme, Sir Malcolm said the rebels are showing "poor judgment" by undermining David Cameron's authority. He said the public will not respect or understand the Tory in-fighting over Europe.

"What they're doing is putting the Prime Minister in an impossible situation," he said. "He cannot simply vote for this amendment because it would split the Coalition right down the middle. But at the same time, the motion cannot win, because there is not a parliamentary majority for it. This amendment isn't going to get carried.

"So all those supporting it will have achieved is, they will have split their own party, they will, as you have seen, cast questions over the Prime Minister's authority, and indirectly, unintentionally, they will be helping the Labour party's prospects at the next election. That is a pretty odd tactic, when issues of principle aren't even involved."